There are so many ways to get distracted, procrastinate, and waste your valuable time. Check out these 5 ways in which you can seize the day, make the most of your time, and be more productive.
I don’t know about you, but I’m constantly trying to find a way to hack my day so that I’m able to fit more into it. There’s just so much I want to accomplish and there’s so much to do in order to accomplish those things, and time seems to be the only finite resource we’re all up against.
Like many of you, I want to build an empire. I want to author a book, I want a television show, I want to rapidly scale our business, and I’m grappling with achieving those goals while also trying to tackle the things that simply need to be done today. There’s a constant flow of new ideas and I’m always thinking, “Well, I’ll find time to prioritize that” while also knowing that that’s not how effective prioritization works.
I want to do more, accomplish more, be in more places, and I’m not there yet and so, instead of letting myself get angry about it, I’m turning that energy into something productive so I can be where I want to be. And if you’re reading this, I’m assuming that you’re the sort of person who also has big intentions about where they want to be, right? So, let’s dive in. Let’s talk about how we can get more done!
Surround Yourself With People Who Are Doing More
I talk a lot about being conscious of the company that we keep. If you’re someone who has big goals, it only makes sense to surround yourself with others who also have big goals, are doers, and are intentional in how they spend their time.
These folks are not only going to be a positive influence, but they’re also likely to broaden your network. People who do not have big goals and are essentially wasting potential opportunities by squandering their time just aren’t a good influence on you. Do you want to be stuck between two worlds? Align yourself with people who, like you, want more out of life.
Regularly Audit How You’re Spending Your Time
An exercise I started going through regularly which was pretty mind-blowing to me is periodically auditing my calendar. Now, you could do this on a monthly or weekly basis, it all depends on how busy you are and what kind of time you’re looking for, it’s up to you. Here’s the basic premise:
I’ll open my calendar and look at the last week, perhaps the last several weeks, and I’ll first look for recurring meetings. Were these of value to me or to my team? If it’s a high-value meeting, I’m leaving it alone. If they weren’t of value, then I’m scrapping them. If they were valuable but could be improved, I’ll evaluate the agenda while also looking to see if they can be condensed.
I’ll continue looking through my calendar to determine if there are things I can cancel, delegate, or find other ways to improve how I’m spending my time. This strategy has given me hours back that I otherwise would have been wasting.
Look To The Future
This is the flipside to doing an audit on the prior weeks. I open up my calendar and I look at tomorrow and the next several days to see how I’m potentially spending my time.
I say potentially, because if I’m able to identify any time wasters, then I’m removing those from my calendar so I can focus on the things that are going to get me closer to my goals.
Many of us have been trained to think that if it’s on the calendar, then it’s gospel, but I’m here to tell you that you can take control of your calendar, because your calendar is really just a reflection of how you’re spending your time. Are you making that choice, or is someone else doing it for you? How are you planning your days? Winging it? Even worse!
Take. Control. Of. Your. Future. By. Planning. For. It.
Use Deadlines — and a Picture of Your Future Self — to Force Massive Action
I have this vision of myself. I know you do too. There’s something in the “future” that you’ve always thought you would do but you haven’t taken a single step forward to start making it a reality. The ONLY way to make it happen is starting today. Make a date. Do it now. IDEALLY, spend money that requires you to commit.
A real life example for me is my goal of writing a book. I knew when I was 12 that “at some point” in my life, I will be a published author. The vision has always been so clear. But that vision is nothing without a deadline. So I’ve given myself a deadly. The deadline I’m giving myself is that in the next 30 days I must have my manuscript complete. The book will be out before NYE of 2021.
So I’m not only setting a deadline for fec but I’m also communicating it to the world in order to hold myself accountable. Let me be clear about this: My goal is not to have my book in a perfect state, grammatically correct, perfectly punctuated, free of spelling errors, etc. It is simply to have it written. I realize that if I don’t set a very specific deadline for myself and if I don’t speak to my friends and colleagues and my audience about it, I may never do it. I’m coupling vision with action and accountability in order to get more done. I also spent money in order to ensure I follow through. It’s easy to break promises to yourself. Use money as a way to pull yourself to completing the things that matter to you. It works everytime.
Be Willing to Make Sacrifices
You cannot get where you want to go without giving up where you are. Sacrifices are part of being successful. Anyone who tells you different has never build something great. Sacrifices look different depending on your goals but let’s keep going with the book example. I can’t not work on Cardone Ventures projects 9 hours a day. That’s a commitment I can’t sacrifice. But there’s more than 9 hours in a day. So I have to be incredibly intentional about how I’m spending my time if I’m going to meet my deadline in finishing my manuscript. I need to sleep. I need to work out. So what are the things that I can cut out of my life in order to meet the demands of this goal? It might mean that I have to have some tough conversations with loved ones, but I know that in the end they’ll be supportive of my goal and that this is only temporary.
It’s temporary, but it’s necessary. I want to make the most of my time. These are just a few of the ways in which I’m making it possible to do that. What are you willing to do in order to achieve your goals?
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